Quotes from Martha Wells

You know that thing humans do where they think they're being completely logical and they absolutely are not being logical at all, and on some level they know that, but can't stop? Apparently it can happen to SecUnits, too.

All I wanted to do was watch media and not exist. I said, You know I don't like fun.

recharge my ability to cope with humans at close quarters without losing my mind.

murderbot + actual human = awkwardness.

I was tired of pretending to be human. I needed a break.

I don't know what I want. I said that at some point, I think. But it isn't that, it's that I don't want anyone to tell me what I want, or to make decisions for me.

ART (aka Asshole Research Transport)

It had been such a stupid question, I had forgotten not to have an expression.

By tricky I meant I was getting an average of an 85 percent chance of failure and death, and it was only that low because my last diagnostic said my risk assessment module was wonky. (I know, that explains a lot about me.)

The bad thing about having emotions is, you know, OH SHIT WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME.

I was only 97 percent certain this meeting was a trap.

Somewhere there had to be a happy medium between being treated as a terrifying murder machine and being infantilized.

It's not going to make a very good story, in the annals of my time as sister queen." She quoted dryly, "'Then her consort jumped up and knocked the foreign queen unconscious with a kettle.

I try to avoid asking humans if there's anything wrong with them. (Mostly because I don't care.)

It was a low-stress group, they didn't argue much or antagonize each other for fun, and were fairly restful to be around, as long as they didn't try to talk or interact with me in any way.

It's a good thing I don't have a full human digestive system because I was so startled something would have popped out of it involuntarily.

Can I ask you a question?" I never know how to answer this. Should I go with my first impulse, which is always "no" or just give in to the inevitable?

The HubSystem that controlled their habitat, that they were dependent on for food, shelter, filtered air, and water, was trying to kill them. And in their corner all they had was Murderbot, who just wanted everyone to shut up and leave it alone so it could watch the entertainment feed all day.

Fear was an artificial condition. It's imposed from the outside. So it's possible to fight it. You should do the things you're afraid of.

Miki said, "That's not good." See, that? That is just annoying. That contributed nothing to the conversation and was just a pointless vocalization to make the humans comfortable.

Data suggests family dramas bear a less than 10 percent resemblance to actual human families, which is unsurprising and also a relief, considering all the murders. In the dramas, not Mensah's family.

I would defer to your expertise in shooting and killing things. You should defer to mine in data analysis.

In the shows, I saw humans comfort each other all the time at moments like this. I had never wanted that and I still didn't. (Touching while rendering assistance, shielding humans from explosions, etc., is different.) But I was the only one here, so I braced myself and made the ultimate sacrifice. "Uh, you can hug me if you need to.

This is how we fight: throw ourselves at each other and see whose parts give out first.